I just got the Matrix - a message from 2004

In 2004 I had some thoughts on the movie, The Matrix and how it related to my life. Have those thoughts aged well?

I Just Got The Matrix

I’ve been working on my personal blog of 24 years and I bumped into a post from 23 September, 2004 about the movie: The Matrix. It’s a fascinating read given everything that has happend to me over the years. When I wrote this I had no idea about trans/non-binary identies. At the time I felt like there was a better version of me that would hopefully come out one day.

I’m a big fan of the Matrix as any of my friends will tell you. But, I was watching Collateral tonight and it hit me, the true meaning of the Matrix. Before anyone moans, Collateral has nothing to do with the Matrix. Go see Collateral, its a decent film.

So. The Matrix isn’t about Man vs Machines. Its about “Freeing your mind”. But from what if not the Machines? Its about freeing your mind from society. Its about leaving the world constructed by Man and finding out who you really are. Let me walk you through this.

Mr. Anderson has a day job he doesn’t like. 9 to 5, he’s Mr. Anderson. He goes home and he’s Neo. He’s the person he chooses to be, but he is locked down by society so he has to continue being Mr. Anderson. I’m sure a lot of people already got this, and I’m just being slow. I definetly got all this the first time round, but in the context of the film, in that Neo is freed from the Matrix. But its just now that I realise the true meaning, to me at least. Anyways, so Neo has to be the person society forced upon him. He has to be Mr. Anderson. That’s not his chosen name, or his chosen job, or his chosen life. Then he meets Morpheus.

Morpheus helps free him from the Matrix, or the man made construct that is society. Neo then learns who he really is and starts to realise his true potential as Neo. Neo re-enters the matrix (society) as Neo. He is now a seperate entity to the modern world. He is now the person he chooses to be. He operates in society, but he is also not part of it. He can now move around freely, seeing the world as it really is. He sees everyone still tied to the system, the people that are so dependant on it that they can’t be “unplugged”.

What am I saying here? That you can dodge bullets? No. I’m saying that we are living in the matrix right now. We are bound by societies shackles and we all need to “Free our minds”. Only when we start to operate slightly outside of societies ideals can we realise our full potential as a person.

I am starting to see this in my own life. If I think about the past week, it scares me. I can see the real me, the me that is crying to be freed. I can see that I’m not bound by my fears and that I can overcome things and be who I want to be. I see this and it scares me. Why? Because its entirely possible that one day I will be alive.

Free Your Mind.

Interestingly, I wrote an unofficial follow up piece on this very newsletter back in 2020, before I realised I was non-binary. It isn’t until 2022 that I re-reference The Matrix as the person I hoped I would become. Someone who is alive, overcoming things and being who they want to be.